my wife forwarded a copy of this to me, thought you'd all appreciate it. Tom D

Yo,Osama!

Well, the government finally named you as a suspect,
so I guess it's fair to talk about you now. Thought
you had us, didn't you? What a laugh! You did more
to unify this country than George Washington.
See, we Americans had gotten sort of distracted. We
worried about things like lockboxes, taxes, and who
was committing hanky panky with whom. We were too
stressed to reach out to one another, to sit down and
talk with our kids, to call our spouses at work and
tell them we loved them. We were MUCH too busy to
even think about giving blood or going to the hardware
store to buy and hang an American flag.
You changed all that, Osama, you and your gang of
creeps. I met my neighbors in the park across the
street tonight. We talked quietly while everybody
gathered. Then we lit our candles and just stood
there silently, holding them. Without anybody saying
anything, we walked back to our neighborhood and set
them on our doorsteps. They are still burning. You
will never be able to put them out.
I've had more meaningful conversations with my
teenager this week than in the last couple of years
combined. Tonight I was driving her to a friend's
house when the voice of Lee Greenwood came over the
radio singing "I'm Proud to Be an American." We were
stuck in traffic, and normally we would have been
snapping at one another. She started singing along
softly with the radio. I joined in. By the second
verse we were singing at the top of our
voices with the windows rolled down. People stuck in
traffic on either side of us joined in. By the time
we were finally able to move a little, perfect
strangers were wiping their eyes, blowing their horns
and shouting good wishes to one another.
I hung an American flag on my house yesterday for the
first time in my life. I'd like to get another one,
but there are no flags or anything else red, white, or
blue left in any store in this town. My daughter and
I did find some white and blue ribbon in the sewing
box. Tomorrow we're going to make a huge
blue-and-white bow and fasten it to the front grille
of the car. The car's bright red; we think it will
look nice.

I called my husband at work today just to tell him I
loved him. I hadn't done that for awhile - too busy,
I guess. It felt wonderful.
We are going to send some money to a fund to help the
victims. Tonight at the dinner table we talked about
the various charities and tried to decide which one
was best. Normally we just eat and run. It was the
best dinner table conversation we've had in a long
time. We finally decided on a fund that's been set up
for the children of the rescue workers who were killed
in New York City. We'd never given much thought to
appreciating all they do for
us before now.

My husband and I are on a waiting list to give blood.
It'll be awhile before our names come up; there are
over 500 people ahead of us. There's been a shortage
of blood in this area. I wouldn't be surprised if the
blood donated all across this country eventually saves
more people than you killed. That would be a fitting
memorial to those who died.
we're sticking together. Our politicians are rising
to the occasion. Rudy Giuliani and George W. Bush
never looked half as statesmanlike as they have this
week. Partisan bickering? What's that? Half the
Congress stood on the steps of the Capitol the other
night and sang "God Bless America."
See, Osama, you underestimated us. And maybe for too
long we've been underestimating ourselves. This is
the greatest, strongest, richest, most beautiful
country in the world. Our firefighters, policemen,
EMTs, and people like the ones on the plane that
crashed in Pennsylvania have reminded us that we're
also the bravest and most determined.
You can't destroy us, and you can't stop us. Because
we're coming, Osama. We're gonna find you and the
rest of your murderous thugs, and when we do, we're
gonna kick your butts all over the face of the earth.
You are gonna REGRET the day you messed with AMERICA!
Just thought you oughta know.

Denise Shaughnessy

mayflyman

09-21-2001, 10:45 PM

Hurumph... The judges awarded you a perfect "10".
It has brought my daughters (pre-teens) and myself closer too.